


I Suppose it can be Special

by GlitterQueen



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Birthday, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Birthday Leo, M/M, Not a lot of angst, One Shot, don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 16:09:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16411685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterQueen/pseuds/GlitterQueen
Summary: Elliot asks Leo when his birthday is. When Leo doesn't have an answer, he makes one; but it isn't necessarily a lie.





	I Suppose it can be Special

“Hey Leo?”

“Hm?”

“When is your birthday?”

Leo glanced up to look at Elliot, who was currently being used as a pillow while they read. They had decided to spend the day inside to escape the blistering heat that had appeared as abruptly as Elliot’s temper does occasionally.

“Why do you ask?”

Elliot shifted uncomfortably and his eyes wandered the room.

“Well, you’ve been my valet for almost a year. I thought that if I waited, you’d eventually tell me when it was close, but…” he trailed off.

“You got impatient?”

Elliot’s eyes met Leo’s and he nodded. Leo wasn’t sure why Elliot was getting so wrapped up in the subject.

“So? Will you tell me?”

Leo closed his book and sat up, no longer able to concentrate on the words his eyes skimmed over.

Truth be told, Leo didn’t really know when his birthday was. His younger days with his mother had been spent scavenging for food and begging just to put clothes on their backs; they’d never had the money to celebrate any holiday-- let alone his birthday. Leo hadn’t even known that birthdays were a thing until he’d long since begun walking and talking.

Leo had asked his mother, once, but she revealed that she had forgotten the date a long time ago. When his mother passed away, Leo was already convinced that the day he was born did not matter. ‘Every single day is special, you don’t need a birthday, dear’, as his mother would say.

There was one other time, though, when someone reminded him about it.

He’d only been at the House of Fiana for a few months, and not all the kids had gotten the idea that he wanted to be left alone yet. Though he couldn’t remember the name for the life of him, there had once been a little girl with tiny hands that were always braiding or playing with his hair; they’d also tap gently on the piano keys occasionally when Leo played. Leo had finally come out of the library after holing up for three days in a row, and he sat down at the crammed table to grab his food and escape once more. The little girl had noticed him, however, and was quick to bound over and snag the seat next to him (not without shoving another kid off first). She’d been talking, but Leo hadn’t bothered to listen, only catching snippets of her excited chatter as he poked at his food. He’d only been slightly annoyed by her presence until she started tugging at his sleeve with eager impatience.

“Leo-nii! When is your birthday? Because mine is coming up and if you don’t know when yours is then we can share! I’ll even give you some of my presents, but only if you agree to play nice with the other kids. They say you’re scary, but I think that you’re awesome! Hey, do you think you could play some music at the party? All the other kids deny it, but you’re really good! Even though I doubt you can read the music with your hair covering your face…” She continued to ramble, but Leo was already beginning to stand up and walk away when one of the tiny hands tugged harshly at his sleeve again.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! I haven’t been ignoring you, so how would that be fair?”

“Let me go, I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Don’t say that when you haven’t even tried-”

“Let go of me.”

“No! Not until you listen!”

“I said let go!” Leo shouted as he tore his arm from her grasp, but the movement threw the girl off balance and she fell to the ground with a harsh _thump_. “I don’t care about you or your stupid birthday, just leave me alone!”

Leo had stormed off after that without bothering to turn back, but he could hear her quiet sobs as she picked herself back up.

She never bothered him again.

Not that Leo really cared. She was annoying, and he didn’t appreciate carefree people like her waltzing in acting all happy-go-lucky and expecting him to play along. The world doesn’t work like that.

It was that night that Leo thought that, in a way, he had died with his mother. When his mother died and he went to the House of Fiana, he’d immersed himself in the world of books; only leaving briefly to eat or play the piano.

Leo hadn't been living.

Living didn’t involve that heavy ache that had settled over his chest when nobody in the village volunteered to take him in; that ache that never went away. Living people were capable of feeling joy. Living people had daily routines that involved more than just three or four things. Living people had more than just books and piano keys as companions.

And then, one chilly day in October, a loud boy with an explosive temper burst into his life and steam rolled every expectation Leo had for his miserable existence.

Elliot breathed life into Leo’s cold and dark world. He reminded Leo that life is just as much a story as books are, except that everyone is the author of their own. He reminded Leo that mistakes can be forgiven, and that giving up was far more pitiful than trying and failing.

Elliot had brought him back to life that day.

“Leo? Did you hear me?”

“October 25th.”

“What?”

“October 25th, that’s my birthday.”

Leo supposes that this birthday would be far more important to him than any random date his mother could have given him.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's super short I'm so sorry, but I completely forgot about his birthday until the notification popped up on my phone this morning and I simply had to do something for his birthday. Thank you for reading this far, I hope you have a nice day!


End file.
